


Not All Changes Are Bad

by CocoDragon16



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, April O'Neil is the best, April helps these boys so much, Brotherly Bonding, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Foster Care, Hospitalization, Hurt/Comfort, Leatherhead has PTSD, Mental Health Issues, Mikey has DID, Original Character(s), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Older Brothers, brothers are separated in the system, learning how to be a family again, the boys are POC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:07:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25929385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CocoDragon16/pseuds/CocoDragon16
Summary: Separated after losing their parents, the brothers are brought back together after years apart. However, not everyone is the same as they once were, and the brothers have to learn how to be brothers again.
Relationships: Casey Jones/April O'Neil (TMNT), Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & April O'Neil & Raphael (TMNT), Donatello & Leonardo & Michelangelo & Raphael & Splinter (TMNT), Leatherhead & Michelangelo (TMNT), Michelangelo & April O'Neil (TMNT)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	Not All Changes Are Bad

**Author's Note:**

> So this is another human AU idea I had! Updates on this will not be super frequent unfortunately. There's still a lot of research I have to do on DID in order for Mikey's character to be realistic. But I really want to do this, so I'm hoping it won't be too much time before I continue with this. 
> 
> This is just a short little prologue to introduce the idea and see what you guys think. The chapters will get longer and become more detailed as the story progresses. I hope you enjoy this! Please leave comments and kudos - they encourage me to keep writing!

It’s his seventeenth birthday, and Leo hasn't seen his brothers in years. 

Raphael and Donatello are fifteen by now, almost sixteen. Michelangelo, the baby of the family, is twelve. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to see his younger brothers grow. They were separated when he was thirteen. 

It was Mikey’s eight birthday and they had planned a surprise party for him. The boys’ parents had picked him up to take him to where the party was supposed to be. A car ran a red light; both adults were killed on impact. 

After the accident, social services got involved and all four of them ended up separated in the system. 

Things for Leo weren’t too bad. Always a good kid with a good head on his shoulders, he fit in well with most foster families and didn’t cause too many problems. He only got bounced around a few times before he ended up with a man named Yoshi Hamato, or Hamato Yoshi if you were to follow the Japanese way of speaking. 

Mr. Hamato is a kind man in his late thirties. He lost his wife and daughter in a fire a few years ago. When his job - a ninjitsu instructor - began to fail at filling the void in his life, he chose to open his home to foster children. He felt too vulnerable to outright adopt a child, so becoming a foster father seemed to be the next best thing. Almost a year ago, he opened his home to Leonardo and the two clicked immediately. 

Leo, always open to learning new things, new cultures, took to Mr. Hamato like a moth to a flame. He began learning ninjitsu and taking lessons in Japanese. He was full of questions and Mr. Hamato, quickly dubbed Splinter, was more than happy to oblige. Their bond grew and strengthened as the weeks turned to months. Leo opened up to Splinter, told him about his brothers and how much he missed them, how he worried about them, how he missed his parents deeply but was ultimately more worried about how Mikey was handling everything. 

So, when Leo’s birthday comes around - his first birthday with a foster parent he actually likes - and Splinter asks him what he wants most for his birthday, he doesn’t lie or come up with something realistic. Leo instead turns to his foster father with tears in his eyes and says, “My brothers. I want my brothers home safe.” 

Splinter stands there a moment, thinking deeply. Then he nods. “If that is what you want, then that is what you shall get.”

It’s his seventeenth birthday, and Leo finally has hope that he will see his brothers again.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay! So, Mikey does have DID, and I personally do not. This means I have to do a lot of research (mostly watching Youtubers with DID and reading professional articles) in order to get everything correct. I am by no means trying to take away from people with DID or dehumanize them in any way. I just want to bring light to the disorder, and I encourage you guys to look into the disorder yourself. Because I don't want to make it look like I understand what having this disorder is like, I am not writing this story from Mikey's point-of-view ever. It will strictly follow Leo as he and the others learn about the disorder and adjust to being brothers again. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this story as I work on it! If anything stands out as wrong or problematic please don't hesitate to let me know! That is the last thing I want!


End file.
